Host-related morphological variation within Myzus persicae group (Homoptera: Aphididae) from Japan

Abstract

There have been independent long-term studies of tobacco-adapted populations of Myzus persicae in Japan and Greece, but until now no direct comparisons have been made between them. In Japan, as in Greece, tobacco aphids can reproduce sexually to some extent so that there is the potential for hybridisation with M. persicae from other plants on their common primary host, the peach. To determine whether Japanese tobacco aphids agree morphologically with those in Greece, and hence fit the concept of M. persicae ssp. nicotianae, multivariate morphometric analysis was applied to 16 clones of M. persicae s.lat. from various localities in Japan. The clones represented 14 different "colour-esterase forms" collected from tobacco and other crops over a 20-year period and kept in laboratory culture. The analysis discriminated most of the clones from tobacco from those collected on other crops. When Japanese samples were analysed together with those from Greece, the tobacco-feeding clones of both countries had a similar pattern of morphometric correlations, discriminating them from those on other crops, even though they were reared under different conditions. Thus, the genomic integrity of M. p. nicotianae seems to be preserved across a wide geographical scale and even in regions where interbreeding can occur. The possible origin and evolution of the tobaccoadapted subspecies are discussed.

Microsatellite DNA and behavioural studies provide evidence of host-mediated speciation in Myzus persicae (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

“…It has been long suspected that populations colonizing tobacco Nicotiana tabacum L. are different from those on other crops (De Jong, 1929; Brain, 1942). This was confirmed by multivariate morphometric studies (Blackman, 1987), which have also subsequently shown that the tobacco‐feeding form retains its host‐related properties through time, even in regions (Greece and Japan) where there is a bisexual generation on the shared primary host, the peach Prunus persica L. (Margaritopoulos et al ., 2000, 2003, 2007). Analysis of clonal lineages reared under controlled conditions on the same host plant proved that these differences have a genetic basis.…”

Morphometric Relationship, Phylogenetic Correlation, and Character Evolution in the Species-Rich Genus Aphis (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

“…It is clear that the long-term or incipient speciation pattern of Aphis , especially in the gossypii group, by the transition that they have drastically shifted their hosts to many unrelated plants is quite different from most other species in Acyrthosiphon , Hyalopterus , Macrosiphoniella , Megoura , and Uroleucon within Aphidinae, which have diverged to the plant species closely associated within a genus or within a family [17], [18], [42], [43]. However, similar association to unrelated hosts occurring in Myzus persicae [24], [44], [45] must be associated with that in Aphis gossypii [38], [39], [46], which seems to similarly affect the noticeable changes of these morphological characters in morphometric analysis between specialized host-adapted populations [20], [47]. These two species have a lot of similarity in regard to polyphagy, and with displaying variations in life cycle, i.e., host alternation, monoecious holocycly, or anholocycly [2], so they may have similar speciation mechanism.…”

Recent changes in the distribution of carboxylesterase genes and associated chromosomal rearrangements in Greek populations of the tobacco aphidMyzus persicae nicotianae

“…Microsatellite and multivariate morphometric analyses of persicae s.l . populations on a global scale indicate that the host shift to tobacco occurred only once, probably in eastern Asia (Blackman, ; Margaritopoulos et al ., 2007b; 2009). In addition, the genetic changes that enable nicotianae to detoxify nicotine have now been identified (Bass et al ., ).…”